Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Developmental Issues in Understanding, Assessing, and Managing Pediatric Pain

  • Chapter
Pain in Children

Abstract

Infants, children, and adolescents presenting with pain differ dramatically in physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social characteristics. This chapter presents an overview of basic concepts that should be understood in the delivery of developmentally appropriate care and addresses their relevance to pain assessment and management. The developmental issues concern variations in maturation and growth in perception and central processing of nociceptive information, and its expression in the actions of the child, as well as consideration of how pain affects different spheres of activity at different ages.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Craig KD, Lilley CM, Gilbert CA. Social barriers to optimal pain management in infants and children. Clin J Pain 1996;12:232–242.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Craig KD, Korol CT, Pillai RR. Challenges of judging pain in vulnerable infants. Clin Perinatol 2002;29:445–458.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Taddio A, Katz J, Ilersich AL, Koren G. Effect of neonatal circumcision on pain response during subsequent routine vaccination. Lancet 1997;349:599–603.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Craig KD, Pillai RR. Social influences, ethnicity, and culture. In: Finley GA, McGrath PJ, editors. The Context of Pediatric Pain: Biology, Family, Society, and Culture. Seattle: IASP Press, 2003:159–182.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hadjistavropoulos HD, Craig KD, Grunau RE, Whitfield MF. Judging pain in infants: Behavioral, contextual, and developmental determinants. Pain 1997;73:319–324.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Anand KJS, McGrath PJ. Pain in Neonates. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Walco GA, Cassidy RC, Schechter NL. The ethics of pain control in infants and children. N Engl J Med 1994;331:541–544.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Fitzgerald M. Painful beginnings. Pain 2004;110:508– 509.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Grunau RE, Holsti L, Haley DW, Oberlander T, Weinberg J, Solimano A, Whitfield MF, Fitzgerald C, Yu W. Neonatal procedural pain exposure predicts lower cortisol and behavioral reaction in preterm infants in the NICU. Pain 2005;113:293–300.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Breau LM, Camfield CS, McGrath PJ, Finley GA. Pain's impact on adaptive functioning. J Intellectual Disabil Res 2007;51:125–134.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Anand KJS, Craig KD. Editorial: New perspectives on the definition of pain. Pain 1996;67:3–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Stanford EA, Chambers CT, Craig KD. A normative analysis of the development of pain-related vocabulary in children. Pain 2005;114:278–284.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Gaffney A, Dunne EA. Developmental aspects of children's definition of pain. Pain 1986;26: 105–117.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Gaffney A, Dunne EA. Children's understanding of the causality of pain. Pain 1987;29:91–104.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. McGrath PJ, Craig KD. Developmental and psychological factors in children's pain. Pediatr Clin North Am 1989;36:823–836.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Claar RL, Walker LS, Smith CA. The influence of appraisals in understanding children's experiences with medical procedures. J Pediatr Psychol 2002;27:553–563.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Bennett-Branson SM, Craig KD. Postoperative pain in children: Developmental and family influences on spontaneous coping strategies. Can J Behav Sci 1993;25:355–383.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Walker LS, Smith CA, Garber J, Claar RL. Testing a model of pain appraisal and coping in children with chronic abdominal pain. Health Psychol 2005;24:364–374.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Deyo K, Prkachin KM, Mercer SR. Development of sensitivity to facial expressions of pain. Pain 2004;107:16–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Palermo TM. Impact of recurrent and chronic pain on child and family daily functioning: A critical review of the literature. J Dev Behav Pediatr 2000;21:58–69.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Larsson BS. Somatic complaints and their relationship to depressive symptoms in Swedish adolescents. J Child Psychol Psychiat 1991;32:821–832.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Kashikar-Zuck S, Vaught MH, Goldschneider KR, Graham TB, Miller JC. Depression, coping, and functional disability in juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome. J Pain 2002;3:412–419.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Martin AL, McGrath PA, Brown SC, Katz J. Children with chronic pain: Impact of sex and age on long-term outcomes. Pain 2007;128:13–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Crombez G, Bijttebier P, Eccleston C, Mascagni T, Mertens G, Goubert L, et al. The child version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS-C): A preliminary validation. Pain 2003;104:639–646.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Vervoort T, Craig KD, Goubert L, Dehoorne J, Joos R, Matthys D, Buysse A, Crombez G. Expressive dimensions of pain catastrophizing: A comparative analysis of school children and children with clinical pain. Pain 2008;134:59–69.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Hadjistavropoulos T, Craig KD. A theoretical framework for understanding self-report and observational measures of pain: A communications model. Behav Res Ther 2002;40:551–570.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Andrews KA, Fitzgerald M. Flexion reflex responses in biceps femoris and tibialis anterior in human neonates. Early Hum Dev 2000;57:105–110.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. von Baeyer CL, Spagrud LJ. Systematic review of observational (behavioral) measures of pain for children and adolescents aged 3 to 18 years. Pain 2006;127:140–150.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Johnston CC, Aita M, Campbell-Yeo M, Duhn L, Latimer M, McNaughton K. The social and environmental context in which pain is experienced in neonates. In: Anand KJS, Stevens BJ, McGrath PJ, editors. Pain in Neonates, 3rd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Field TM. Touch therapy effects on development. Int J Behav Dev 1998;22:779–797.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Gray L, Watt L, Blass EM. Skin-to-skin contact is analgesic in healthy newborns. Pediatrics 2000;105:e14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Johnston CC, Stevens B, Pinelli J, Gibbins S, Filion F, Jack A, Steele S, Boyer K, Veilleux A. Kangaroo Care is effective in diminishing pain response in preterm neonates. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2003;157:1084–1088.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Ludington-Hoe SM, Hosseini R, Torowizc DL. Skin-to-skin contact (Kangaroo Care) analgesia forpreterm infant heelstick. AACN Clinical Issues 2005;16:373–387.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Pillai Riddell RR, Craig KD. Judgments of infant pain: The impact of caregiver identity and infant age. J Pediatr Psychol 2007;32:501–511.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Hermann C. Modeling, social learning of pain. In: Schmidt RF, Willis WD, editors. The Encyclopedia of Pain. Berlin: Springer, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Chambers CT. The role of the family factors in pediatric pain. In: McGrath PJ, Finley GA, editors. Pediatric Pain: Biological and Social Context. Seattle: IASP Press, 2003:99–130.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Goubert L, Eccleston C, Vervoort T, Jordan A, Crombez G. Parental catastrophizing about their child's pain. The parent version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS-P): A preliminary validation. Pain 2006;123:254–263.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Craig KD, McMahon RJ, Morison JD, Zaskow C. Developmental changes in infant pain expression during immunization injections. Soc Sci Med 1984;19:1331–1332.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Grunau RVE, Holsti L, Peters JWB. Long-term consequences of pain in human neonates. Sem Fetal Neonatal Med 2006;11:268–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Anand KJS, Hickey PR. Pain and its effects in the human neonate and fetus. N Engl J Med 1987;317:1321–1329.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Johnston CC, Stevens B, Craig KD, Grunau RVE. Developmental changes in pain expression in premature, full-term, two- and four-month-old infants. Pain 1993;52:201–208.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Nader R, Korol CT, Craig KD. Constancy and change in pain expression during the first year of life: Facial activity, body movement and cry, in preparation.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Pillai Riddell RR, Badali MA, Craig KD. Parental judgments of infant pain: Importance of perceived cognitive abilities, behavioral cues and contextual cues. Pain Research and Management 2004;9:73–80.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Goubert L, Craig KD, Vervoort T, Morley S, Sullivan MJL, Williams A, Cano A, Crombez G. Facing others in pain: the effects of empathy. Pain 2005;118:286–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Leikin L, Firestone P, McGrath PJ. Physical symptom reporting in Type A and Type B children. J Consult Clin Psychol 1988;56:721–726.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Palermo TM, Chambers CT. Pediatric and family factors in pediatric chronic pain and disability: An integrative approach. Pain 2005;119:1–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Chambers CT, Craig KD, Bennett SM. The impact of maternal behavior on children's pain experiences: An experimental analysis. J Pediatr Psychol 2002;27:293–301.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Reid GJ, McGrath PJ, Lang BA. Parent-child interactions among children with juvenile fibromyalgia, arthritis, and health controls. Pain 2005;113:201–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Goodenough B, Thomas W, Champion GD, Perrott D, Taplin JE, von Baeyer CL, Ziegler JG. Unraveling age effects and sex differences in needle pain: Ratings of sensory intensity and unpleasantness of venipuncture pain by children and their parents. Pain 1999;80:179–190.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Fowler-Kerry S, Lander J. Assessment of sex differences in children's and adolescents' self-reported pain from venipuncture. J Pediat Psychol 1991;16:783–793.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Stinson JN, Kavanagh T, Yamada J, Gill N, Stevens B. Systematic review of the psychometric properties, interpretability and feasibility of self-report pain intensity measures for use in clinical trials in children and adolescents. Pain 2006;125:143–157.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Larochette AC, Chambers CT, Craig KD. Genuine, suppressed and faked facial expressions of pain in children. Pain 2006;126:64–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Eccleston C, Crombez G, Scotford A, Clinch J, Connell H. Adolescent chronic pain: patterns and predictors of emotional distress in adolescents with chronic pain and their parents. Pain 2004;108:221–229.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Perquin CW, Hazebroek Kampscheur, AAJM, Hunfeld JAM, et al. Pain in children and adolescents: a common experience. Pain 2000;87:51–58.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. McCracken LM, Carson JW, Eccleston C, Keefe FJ. Acceptance and change in the context of chronic pain. Pain 2004;109:4–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Eccleston C, Malleson PM, Clinch J, Connell H, Sourbut C. Chronic pain in adolescents: evaluation of a programme of inter-disciplinary cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT). Arch Dis Child 2003;88:881–885.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia; Senior Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Kenneth D. Craig

  2. Psychologist, Pediatric Complex Pain Clinic and Burn Unit, Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Christine T. Korol

Authors
  1. Kenneth D. Craig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christine T. Korol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The David Center for Children's Pain and Palliative Care, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ

    Gary A. Walco PhD (Director, Professor of Pediatrics) (Director, Professor of Pediatrics)

  2. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ

    Gary A. Walco PhD (Director, Professor of Pediatrics) (Director, Professor of Pediatrics)

  3. Division of Pain Management, Department of Anesthesia, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH

    Kenneth R. Goldschneider MD, FAAP (Director, Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesia and Pediatrics) (Director, Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesia and Pediatrics)

  4. Departments of Anesthesia and Pediatrics, Department of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, MA

    Charles B. Berde MD, PhD (Professor, Director, Pain Treatment Service) (Professor, Director, Pain Treatment Service)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Craig, K.D., Korol, C.T. (2008). Developmental Issues in Understanding, Assessing, and Managing Pediatric Pain. In: Walco, G.A., Goldschneider, K.R., Berde, C.B. (eds) Pain in Children. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-476-6_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-476-6_2

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-934115-31-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-476-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation